CognitiveShadow

Great replies and explanations all around, thanks everyone! Definitely clarified some definitions and helped get rid of some of the cobwebs on my Elantris studies! I will be looking closer at the Ire and how they interact with others. I think we’ve cleared up that the Elantrians are not cognitive shadows, not quite anyway.

Thanks for the response! I think I agree with your line of thinking. They would be way too similar to the returned if they were actually cognitive shadows. I was initially wondering because it seemed like when Raoden and others are taken by the Shaod their body is almost stuck in a death/dying phase before coming back full of investiture… but I think I agree that they aren’t actually dying and lingering like the typical cognitive shadow. More similar to a misting/mistborn snapping maybe. Maybe the Elantrians have a ritual process of turning themselves into cognitive shadows when they are ready to move on? I like the idea of how they would have to be accessing or using AonDor when they died to potentially become a cognitive shadow. But, is there any benefit to being a cognitive shadow over an Elantrian, or is that a step down? Anyway, thank you for listening to my Ted talk of rambling thoughts lol

Are Elantrians cognitive shadows? Or are they just people supercharged with investiture? In that case, do they have enough investiture to become cognitive shadows if they are killed? I’ve read all the cosmere books but elantris was one of the first so it’s been a while haha